


What Love Is

by Isolatedwriting



Category: DCU, Harley Quinn (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: F/F, Its basically just after 2x04, between our two favourite idiots, with some thoughts happening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:14:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23900641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isolatedwriting/pseuds/Isolatedwriting
Summary: "Doing anything for something else… that was something her past self would have ridiculed her for wanting. She would have laughed in anyone’s face who suggested it, and maybe peeled it off after for good measure.Now? She wasn’t so sure."Or:Ivy has some thoughts after the gang's face off with Mr. Freeze
Relationships: Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel
Comments: 8
Kudos: 157





	What Love Is

After dropping Kite Man off at the ER, Ivy drove the rest of the crew home. 

Harley was being unusually quiet during the drive. Everyone was really. The atmosphere was heavy since they left the icy domain, and Ivy found herself lost in thought like the rest of them. Even King Shark had given up trying to break the, well, ice. 

Watching Mr. Freeze give himself up like he did… well it was bound to bring on some introspection from everyone present. 

Some were a little less dramatic than others. Clayface was in pieces considering the character drama of such a tragedy, like Romeo and Juliet but a slow burn. The other two boys thought back on their own romantic choices. 

Harley was in a similar place, but Ivy? Ivy was mentally in a tailspin. That was a lot to process, and it brought up a lot of questions she had been resisting. 

She did not have that kind of love. That much was clear, and she found it surprising easy to accept once it was laid out in front of her. Doing anything for something else… that was something her past self would have ridiculed her for wanting. She would have laughed in anyone’s face who suggested it, and maybe peeled it off after for good measure. 

Now? She wasn’t so sure. 

She had evolved over the years. People were less like vermin and more like… a pet mouse that you keep around on purpose. She guessed it was personal, which ones were disposable to her and which weren’t.  
But then there was Harley. 

Harley didn’t feel like that. She had gone through stages of hating the girl sitting shotgun next to her, hating her for months before she came crawling back and it would all fade away again. Harley wasn’t someone she had kept around on purpose, until she wanted her to be. She wasn’t just anyone though. She was the first one. 

Once Joker’s brainwashing had worn its course, Harley hadn’t needed as much rescuing. She still needed plenty of help, but less in a licensed team of medical professionals way and more of a extra best friend kind of way. 

Still, she had always thrown everything aside for Harley. She had done it that very night!

Ivy supposed they had never had the most normal friendship. Most super villains didn’t, the women especially, since it was such a dick fest on the other side of the law. 

When she looked up at Harley, as Freeze injected himself and ended his own life, she couldn’t help but evaluate her relationship with the blonde. 

Had she gone above and beyond for her before? Well, the smell of margarita mix spurred in her memory, and she knew that answer without looking into it any further. She didn’t need to face that level of humiliation. Not without a reason anyway. 

It was embarrassing enough to think she might have been so obvious without even knowing it. Was it as obvious to Harley as it was to herself, after such a night?

Ivy glanced away from the road to look at Harley, who was leaning lethargically against the window. She seemed lost in her own thoughts, and Ivy would have paid anything to hear them. Not here though. Not with two giants and the worlds smallest misogynist in the back seat listening in. 

So when they parked up and disembarked, Ivy found herself waiting for Harley to perk herself up, sighing heavily as she did, to ask her back to her room.

Harley seemed a little frazzled, dazed by a day of high stakes, but agreed, and followed behind Ivy quickly. Ivy could hear her sneakers squeaking on the linoleum. 

“You okay?” Harleys voice sounded strained, but she smiled at Ivy anyway. Ivy shut the door behind them, and felt self conscious again. 

“I think I’ve made a huge mistake.”

Harley’s face dropped. “What’d ya mean, Ives?”

“I’m engaged, Harley, and I just saw a man die for love and I don’t think I… would.” 

Harley seemed to take this in her stride. “What do you think your gonna do?”

Ivy was pacing, back and forth across her room. Harley sat down carefully on the bed, watching the greenery move out of her way, sensing her presence and intent. She wondered idly if Ivy had asked them to move for her. 

She had been thinking a lot about Ivy recently.

Ivy collected her thoughts, pausing in front of Harley to face her. “I genuinely don’t know, I basically forced him to propose to me, I can’t just break it off! Its only been a few weeks!” Ivy sat down then, head in her hands. Harley scooted over to rest a hand on her back, their thighs touching lightly with their proximity. 

“You can do anything you want.”

“Not that. I can’t hurt him.” Ivy said from her palms, and Harley couldn’t help but grumble. She had so much going on in her head, and Ivy’s love crisis was coming at a bad time. She had only just been warming up to Kite Man, and hearing Freeze’s declaration of what love really was had thrown her for a loop. 

Because she did know what love was like. But not from Joker. 

And that set off a chain of questions Harley was just too tired to sort through.

Instead, she just said, “ You can’t marry him unless you’re sure.” The words came out robotic.

Ivy laughed. “I don’t even believe in marriage.” 

“Then why did you ask him to ask you to marry him again?”

Ivy finally pulled her head out of her hands. “God, I don’t know, Harley! Can you just tell me that I haven’t ruined everything?” Ivy looked at her then, and Harley was stunned by the vulnerability in her voice. Ivy rarely showed weakness, and it was strange to see it from her now. So much so she almost missed her continue.

“I just wanted to be normal.”

Harley’s hand slid automatically around Ivy’s waist to hold her from the side, but it seemed to only make Ivy’s panic worse. 

She stood and began pacing again. 

“I need to focus. I need to think of what I’ll say.” Harley opened her mouth to reply, but didn’t really know what to say. Ivy barrelled through anyway. “He actually loves me.”

“Do you know what love feels like?” Harley found herself asking without thinking. Before she could correct herself, more words found their way out too. “The way Mr. Freeze described it?” 

Ivy stopped, turning to face her but Harley had already ducked her head. She was feeling anxious with her newfound knowledge bouncing around in her head. 

Ivy didn’t know what to say. To Harley at least. Harley had been her best (only) friend for a long time. She knew she loved Harley. But now wasn’t the time. So she decided to be honest, in the safest way. 

“I know how it feels to want to give someone everything. To do anything to keep them safe.” 

When Harley finally looked up, she met Ivy’s gaze with no hesitation. She wanted to see her speak. Wanted to see if that feeling was still there in Ivy’s eyes. She found the same look Ivy always gave her, and it didn’t answer her question. 

“When?” She found herself asking, watching Ivy’s awkward form fumble for a moment at the question. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Ivy said, her hand reaching up to hold her other arm, protecting herself.  
Harley didn’t miss the gesture. 

She reached out to grab Ivy’s forearm and drag her over, and Ivy moved without much persuasion to Harley’s side again. “You can talk to me about anything.” Harley’s voice came out too quietly, and she cleared her throat after, breaking the moment immediately as it formed and kicking herself for doing so. “I really mean it, anything. You told me about that guy who gave you crabs in Miami.”

“Not this time, Harls.” Ivy seemed so drained, ignoring Harley’s quip completely, which seemed so out of character that it was almost worrying. If Harley hadn’t already been beside herself with stress that was. 

Harley sighed. She wasn’t going to get anywhere further tonight. But she didn’t want to leave it like that. Not with Ivy so clearly distressed. Her legs felt jelly-ish anyway, like they wouldn’t successfully carry her out of the room. She leaned her head down on Ivy’s shoulder, as she had many times before, and felt Ivy jump at the touch. 

“Can I stay with you tonight?”

Ivy was no stranger to sharing a bed with Harley. Over the years, they are ended up in bed together for a myriad of reasons, but never with Ivy’s emotions so close to the surface. Still, she couldn’t lie that she liked the warmth of Harley’s body against her, and she felt so tired. 

“Okay.” She murmured, eyes suddenly heavy, like she had just remembered sleep. Harley grinned up at her, shrugged out of her clothes and into some of Ivy’s (“I can’t be expected to walk all the way over to mine just for shorts, Ives,”) without any regard for Ivy’s sanity, and climbed into Ivy’s bed before Ivy herself had even risen. 

By the time she had changed, Harley was conked out. Ivy couldn’t help the way her stomach fluttered, seeing her in her bed, but that was a problem for tomorrow. 

She curled up beside Harley, as pale arms circled her waist from behind. Even in sleep, Harley clung tightly to her, but Ivy didn’t mind. It felt nice to be back in Harley’s arms for a change. 

The thought stung a little, but Ivy fell asleep easily, with her mind pulled out of the clouds, just for a moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for harlivy now!


End file.
